Shakib Al Hasan named in Bangladesh squad for T20I series against Afghanistan
Experienced all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan features in Bangladesh’s squad for the two-match T20I series against Afghanistan, which will be played next month.
The 34-year-old was not part of the team’s previous T20I series against Pakistan last year as he was recuperating from injury. His last T20I encounter was the World Cup clash against West Indies in Sharjah in October.
The uncapped duo of Munim Shahriar and Yasir Ali are part of the 14-member squad for the T20I series against Afghanistan. Both cricketers impressed in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2022. Shahriar scored 178 runs in six matches for Fortune Barishal a strike rate of 152. Yasir smacked 219 runs in 11 matches for the Khulna Tigers at a strike rate of 139.49.
Nurul Hasan Sohan, Akbar Ali, Shamim Patwari, Aminul Islam Biplob, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Saif Hassan have been dropped from the team. All of them were part of the T20I squad that took on Pakistan.
Changes from last T20I series :-
IN : Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Munim Shahriar, Yasir Ali Chowdhury
OUT : Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Shamim Hossain, Saif Hassan, Akbar Ali, Parvez Hossain Emon
#BANvAFG
The two T20Is between Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be played on March 3 and 5 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. Before that, the teams will take part in a three-match ODI series from February 23 to 28. All the ODIs will be held at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
Bangladesh T20I squad: Mahmudullah (captain), Liton Das, Munim Shahriar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Shohidul Islam, Naim Sheikh.
Shakib Al Hasan went unsold at the IPL 2022 auction
Despite being a proven performer in the T20 format, the former Bangladesh captain went unsold at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 auction. The all-rounder had registered his name in the highest base price category of ₹2 crore.
In a post on Facebook, the cricketer’s wife Umme Ahmed Shishir explained that Shakib was not picked because he had informed franchises that he would not be available for the entire IPL 2022 edition. She wrote:
“Before you get too excited a Couple of teams contacted him directly ahead of time if he can be available for the full season, but unfortunately he can’t due to the Sri Lanka series! This is why he did not get picked which is not a big deal, it is not the end, there’s always next year!”
The star all-rounder has featured in 71 IPL matches, in which he has claimed 63 wickets apart from scoring 793 runs.